Residential buildings above ground plus one floor with 2,000sqft come under the planning authority of DTCP.

According to official sources, the government order mandating completion certificates has not been issued for DTCP areas. An official said that the issue is being dealt at the higher levels in the government while another official with the DTCP said that they have not received any information with regard to the government order on the completion certificates.

In July this year, the housing and urban development department convened a stakeholders’ meeting involving developers to discuss the introduction of the certificate.

Once implemented, a building can be occupied only after the completion certificate is issued. Planning violations can be detected when authorities inspect a building after it is built. This system is in place in the Chennai metropolitan area (CMA). After the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) grants planning permission for construction, the respective structures would be subjected to inspections after completion to ensure that the developer has adhered to building approval.

S Kanagasundaram, former president of the Association of Licensed Building Surveyors, Coimbatore, said completion certificates are important to stop unauthorised constructions built over and above the planning permission. “For instance, a developer would have got permission for building 5,000sqft and would illegally construct an additional 1,000sqft in the structure. Despite the local planning authority (LPA) and local bodies having powers to act against such violations, they seldom take action in most of the cases. Under such circumstances, completion certificates would deter deviations from planning permission ,” he said.

The certificate system is crucial because a lot of buildings are coming up in far-flung suburbs with the expansion of the city. DTCP officials said a lack of adequate manpower was a major stumbling block in initiating action against the violations. “However, such violations can no more happen as the Real Estate Act has come into force. Developers cannot deviate from the planning permission granted by DTCP,” an official said.